he is sitting upon, lest "they should be made bloody," leaving the
shivering suppliant to be clothed by the generosity of the postilion ("a
Lad," says Fielding with a fine touch of satire, "who hath been since
transported for robbing a Hen-roost"). This worthy fellow accordingly
strips off his only outer garment, "at the same time swearing a great
Oath," for which he is duly rebuked by the passengers, "that he would
rather ride in his Shirt all his Life, than suffer a Fellow-Creature to
lie in so miserable a Condition." Then there are the admirable scenes
which succeed Joseph's admission into the inn; the discussion between
the bookseller and the two parsons as to the publication of Adams's
sermons, which the "Clergy would be certain to cry down," because they
inculcate good works against faith; the debate before the justice as to
the manuscript of AEschylus, which is mistaken for one of the Fathers;
and the pleasant discourse between the poet and the player which,
beginning by compliments, bids fair to end in blows. Nor are the stories
of Leonora and Mr. Wilson without their interest. They interrupt the
straggling narrative far less than the Man of the Hill interrupts _Tom
Jones_, and they afford an opportunity for varying the epic of the
highway by pictures of polite society which could not otherwise be
introduced. There can be little doubt, too, that some of Mr. Wilson's
town experiences were the reflection of the author's own career; while
the characteristics of Leonora's lover Horatio,--who was "a young
Gentleman of a good Family, bred to the Law," and recently called to the
Bar, whose "Face and Person were such as the Generality allowed
handsome: but he had a Dignity in his Air very rarely to be seen," and
who "had Wit and Humour, with an Inclination to Satire, which he
indulged rather too much"--read almost like a complimentary description
of Fielding himself.

Like Hogarth, in that famous drinking scene to which reference has